The “Direct Corollary Effects” — Of Allowing Trumpian Lies To Fester — In Circles Where Education… Is Undervalued: Knox County, TN Edition.

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First — the good news: I am 100% certain the ACLU will be able to win — if/when it files a case against this small-minded attempt at the repression of US history.

The ACLU will win all the way through the United States Supreme Court, and have this local Tennessee law invalidated, as both impermissibly vague — and as contrary to nearly 100 years of clear Supreme Court precedent.

These cases say the work as a whole must be considered, even before taking only the least restrictive means of addressing a compelling state interest. See, Island Trees, et al., 457 U.S. 853 — decided 1982. None of that has happened in Knoxville, Tennessee. Obviously.

And, moreover, all of this would be unthinkable, prior to the “time of Tangerine” — looking back, given Supreme Court black letter law — of at least 60 years’ standing:

…Roots: The Saga of an American Family, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alex Haley that helped shape public understanding of slavery and inspired generations of Americans to trace their ancestry, has been banned from library shelves in Knox County Schools under Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act….

“Roots” was among the first widely read works of fiction to offer a detailed account of the Middle Passage, the horrific transatlantic journey to America endured by enslaved Africans between the 16th and 19th centuries….

Roots had recently been elevated to the district’s review committee for consideration over a passage in the novel’s 84th chapter, which it determined was not “age appropriate” under Tennessee law. “Broader themes or historical significance of a work as a whole is not a consideration under the law,” Harrington added. [Then this Tennessee law plainly violates the Supreme Court’s cases on the First Amendment; Chapter 84 narrates the forcible rape and beating of an enslaved woman — by a white domestic terrorist / plantation owner.]

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that the KCS book-banning committee had previously reviewed an excerpt from Roots and did not recommend banning it. KCS did not answer questions… on what new concerns had been raised.

The decision means the material can still be taught in classes; it just cannot be available on library shelves….

This is why no preznit should be allowed to endlessly lie — about the uglier aspects of our shared US history. Before long, the acolytes of such a demagogue will seek to erase that uglier history entirely, from written records.

That is exactly what hard right / faux-Xtian Tennessee legislators are vainly attempting here. Damnation. It will not stand, in any event.

नमस्ते

Friday Early AM Tangent: About $25 Billion In Bitcoin Derivatives Expire Next Friday — Likely Drags BTC Down To Around $75,000.

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Nothing about life in even the near future is mathematically certain — but absent some other monumental shift in the existing macro-catalysts, the ratio of puts-to-calls at various strike prices, both in- and out- of the money, would suggest that the spot price for Bitcoin will fall about $2,000 to $3,000 — by next Friday, early morning US time.

Here’s that story — and a bit of it:

…The put/call ratio of 0.86 reflects a modestly bullish market, though with max pain sitting $2,000 below the current price, a gravitational pull toward $75,000 remains a real risk heading into May 29 settlement…

Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, told CoinDesk “The bigger problem, is macro: investors are de-risking as long-term yields rise, oil and inflation risks remain in focus, and there is currently no compelling reason for new capital to enter the market.”…

Hilarious.

And all of this coincides with Mark Cuban admitting he has sold off almost all of his Bitcoin stack (mostly, in the lower ranges of this downturn), now that the supposed “Bitcoin as a hedge against traditional finance excesses” narrative… has been proven to be a lie.

Look out below, in seven days. Or sooner.

नमस्ते

Hinderaker Wants To Talk About Reich’s Misleading Tax Soundbites — Are You KIDDING ME?!

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So even Senate Republicans are refusing to advance a budget and many are in open revolt about an end the Iran war measure — they won’t vote it down.

Why is his own party imploding?

Well… because Trump is now purporting to openly create multi-billion dollar bribery / slush funds (from taxpayer funds) — with iron clad secrecy as to outcomes, so as to allow Trump’s Crime Syndicate® to charge the J6-ers a kickback on any “restitution” they are slated to receive.

That’s why.

But John’s knickers are in a twist about Robert Reich — who holds no office, and hasn’t — in about three decades.

Reich compares Mr. Bezos’ personal taxes to his company’s and to the average American’s.

Taxes.

Yep — we all pay them — but on a percentage basis — proportionately, billionaires pay far less of them than the average American does on a percentage of income basis. That is beyond dispute, John.

This is something that John is more worked up about, than the idea that Tangerine is openly, and actively trying to loot the nation — for billions of his own benefits.

Charming. [And Mirengoff is writing book reviews, about rarefied academic SCOTUS tomes — to avoid talking about crossing Tangerine 2.0. Insane.]

This is open and notorious criming boys. Speak up. Losers.

O U T.

It Seems RFK, Jr. Just Figured Out That A US Passport Or Green Card… Does NOT Imbue A “Magical Pixie Dust” / Bundibugyo Ebola Vaccination.

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Well… there is some sanity, slowly returning, to MAGA leadership at the CDC. As we mentioned this morning, until earlier today, if you were carrying a US Passport, but had been to South Sudan, DRC or Uganda in the past three weeks — you could come right home.

But now — after mine of this morning pointing out the jingoistic lunacy in that policy set — the federal government will now require ALL arrivals to the Us from those countries (in the last 21 days) to be “enhanced checked / screened” through Dulles, before ANY onward travel.

In any event, here’s the latest — from the NYT reporting:

…Earlier this week, the C.D.C. invoked an emergency public health rule to block entry into the United States by travelers who had been in the three African nations in the past 21 days. That restriction did not apply to American citizens or U.S. service members.

The restrictions came after the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak a global health emergency last weekend. The outbreak is suspected to have caused more than 130 deaths and nearly 600 infections, according to the W.H.O. The agency’s head said on Wednesday that there was little risk of the outbreak developing into a pandemic, even as the number of suspected cases and deaths continued to climb….

At least that makes. . . some logical sense. Onward — fingers crossed.

नमस्ते

What To Make Of The Coming SpaceX ~$2 Trillion IPO? Will Goldman Really… Lead?!

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Okay. It is time to look (well past the hype, and nonsense) — and decide, whether Elon Musk can make anything sensible, financially — for the investing public, not just himself(!) — out of what is slated to become the largest IPO in history.

The SEC Rule 424(b) red herring is here. Mr. Musk will hold 85% voting control over the company and be its CEO, chairman and chief technology officer, post the IPO. In this preliminary SEC prospectus, we see — minus the shineola — that…

SpaceX lost over $4.9 billion in 2025 and $4.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026, during which the company acquired xAI, the owner of the digital artificial intelligence assistant Grok. [Yikes.]

Starlink is the most profitable segment in the SpaceX fold, with net income from operations of $4.4 billion in 2025 [and adjusted EBITDA of nearly $7.2 billion, including an add-back of ~$2.4 billion in depreciation and amortization].

In the first quarter of 2026, Starlink generated an operating profit of nearly $1.2 billion and similarly adjusted EBITDA of over $2 billion.

Nice. But the satellites must be completely replaced every three to five years — so the cap ex burden is… staggering. And much of the networks is now approaching the end of its useful life. He needs lots more launches, and deployments — without explosive failures — just to keep the treadmill rolling, here.

And, ominously, he’s dropping the per customer revenue from $86 per month, to about $66 per month outside the USA. [The rest of world won’t pay what these stupid Americans will, it seems.] No, in the US, his market will remain wealthy people who live in remote / mountainous areas of the west, mostly… where traditional wi-fi / cell towers are… scarce.

Sorry — that is a market far too narrow (and increasingly shrinking — as cell towers and cable lines reach deeper and deeper into the mountain west, year after year), to support the vast and continual cap ex burden, me thinks.

In 2025, the worst performing segment — his AI boondoggle — posted an operating loss of nearly $6.4 billion. In the first quarter of 2026, those numbers improved to a $936 million operating loss, but the AI segment too is a very heavy capital spender, with significant research and development expenses. AI spent $12.7 billion of capital ex, in 2025 and over $7.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026. This is not sustainable — with the aggregate cap ex figures for Starlink, and space-launch operations.

So… while this might make him personally the world’s first trillion-aire — I think he is (once again) — as he did in Twitter / X-itter — taking on massive obligations, and telling us to just “trust him”.

[X-itter (according to some pretty good intel) is still hemorrhaging money, now four years later, BTW. But it is private, so there are no complaining public shareholders — or really much, in the way of vetted, audited financial metrics about his X-itter forray.]

All while he looks to / works his Trump-World connections for SpaceX, to try to win lots of NASA / federal government funding — which he hopes will have an endless on ramp for the forever money-losing, cash flow burning SpaceX launch segment / now a lumbering colossus.

Me?

I’ll… pass.

Hard pass, in fact.

This is — when all the smoke and mirrors are moved to the side — simply Musk, laying a vast amount of his personal fortune’s risk profile… off — on a gullible public investor populace.

Enrich him, by funding his money-losers, if you like. But you do so at your considerable peril.

You cannot afford a perhaps $100 billion negative liquidity event. Most of all, not year after year. But that is what he is facing.

If you all don’t come to his rescue, that is.

H I L A R I O U S.

Out.

Well — This Is The Best “Indictment” I’ve Yet Seen — Of Trump’s Corrupt “Weaponization / Lawfare” Slush-Fund! Jim Comey Edition.

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Many here will recall that Trump has insisted twice — and baselessly so — that Jim Comey be indicted by US DoJ MAGA acolytes serving under the tangerine dotard.

Apparently, overnight, Mr. Comey has sardonically raised his hand — and said he will apply for $2 million to $5 million, from the slush-fund — since both of these indictments were dismissed within weeks, as clearly baseless political stunts.

[Actually, though — his next words were that “this must be an Onion piece — it cannot be serious….”] I love the satire — and delicious irony. Mr. Comey is quite right, this Trumpian language is a tailored suit of clothes, to what has befallen him — albeit from Trump’s minions. He’s entitled to a payout, and Acting US AG Todd Blanche has said both Democrats and Republicans are eligible, donchaknow:

…The so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund” will be administered by four commissioners appointed by Trump’s attorney general and one appointed “in consultation” with congressional leadership — Trump, who can fire the commissioners, will have ultimate control.

It will have the authority to issue formal apologies for alleged mistreatment of conservative political actors by previous administrations…. When Trump leaves office, any remaining money will not be available for his successor to use similarly, but will instead be distributed back to the federal government….

“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American,” said the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, which is probably news to all those who have been subjected to politically motivated prosecutions by the justice department since Trump returned to power….

[T]here is no requirement that the fund’s work be made public, and required reports to the attorney general on its conduct are to be confidential. In addition to the creation of this massive slush fund, the agreement also requires that the IRS drop all audits of Trump and his family….

Geez. I’m actually feeling… a lil’ left out. No one ever bothers to indict me. Dammit. In any event, go get ’em Jim Comey! Grin….

नमस्ते

Two Minor Items — Both Bizarre Public Health Angle Stories… France, And Arkansas Editions.

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Of this first nonsense, I hesitate to highlight mentally deranged idiots — except to note that when they make credible threats of mass violence… they should be, and will be… jailed. That’s this Arkansas man, who from his mom’s basement, while playing multi-player online video games, threatened to shoot up the local Wal-Mart, if the US CDC were to decide, in the future, to impose any “lockdown” — over the cruise ship / Hantavirus event in the Atlantic. [No such thing has even been discussed, in Trump-World, BTW. There are 17 US residents isolating in Omaha for two more weeks. That is all.]

The more serious / disconcerting public health/Ebola story comes to us, from Paris — Air France had to divert from Detroit to Montreal, overnight — since French authorities had allowed a Congolese passenger to board the flight in error. This week, Tangerine 2.0 restricted people who’ve been in Congo, South Sudan or Uganda in the past 21 days — saying all such passengers must fly in to Dulles, for enhanced screenings, if they wish to enter the US.

…“Due to entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane,” the CBP spokesperson said in a statement.

Montreal Trudeau International Airport directed request for comment to Air France, which confirmed that Flight 378 was diverted “at the request of U.S. authorities” after it departed Paris on Wednesday, landing in Montreal shortly after 5 p.m. ET.

“There was no medical emergency on board, and like all airlines, Air France is required to comply with the entry requirements of the countries it serves,” an Air France spokesperson said in a statement.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that the U.S. will restrict entry for people without U.S. passports who were in Congo, South Sudan or Uganda in the last three weeks. The restriction is in effect for the next 30 days….

This is a fairly minor thing, but I was not aware that owning a US Passport gave magical vaccinations / endless immunity dosages… to never get Ebola. My point, with the bolded bit above… is again, Tangerine 2.0 is playing on racist / xenophobic stereotypes: Any US Citizen can — and might — be carrying the Ebola virus after being in Uganda or DRC, in the last three weeks.

To exempt them from screening — while forcing all others to enter through Dulles. . . makes zero public health / epidemiological abatement sense. Onward, just the same. These are truly… bizarre times, indeed. Just more of Trump’s asinine “sh!t-hole countries” rhetoric. Out.

नमस्ते

Here’s A First Federal Suit To Enjoin Trump’s $1.8B Slush Fund Attempt: This One Is For Rigby!

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Rigby and I have been discussing how quickly federal suits will be filed against what is likely the most brazen act of corruption, by any president in the history of our nation.

We will need to wait no longer. This suit has been filed in DC on behalf of police officers injured at the Capitol — when the J6 insurrectionists and rioting mob of thousands beat them with sticks and stanchions, and pummeled them with fists.

…[The Slush] Fund endangers the lives and safety of Plaintiffs Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges — officers who defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021 — in two ways. First, by its very existence, the Fund encourages those who enacted violence in the President’s name to continue to do so. Dunn and Hodges already face credible threats of death and violence on regular basis; the Fund substantially increases the danger.

Second, if allowed to begin making payments, the Fund will directly finance the violent operations of rioters, paramilitaries, and their supporters who threatened Plaintiffs’ lives that day, and continue to do so…

To prevent the public financing of paramilitary organizations in the United States, and to protect Plaintiffs from further violence, the fund must be dissolved. Dunn and Hodges bring this case to obtain that relief…

In January of this year, President Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Jr., and the Trump Organization sued the IRS for $10 billion in alleged damages arising from the 2017 and 2020 leaks of their tax returns. Compl., Trump v. IRS, No. 1:26-cv-20609 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 29, 2026), ECF No. 1…

That lawsuit was frivolous. Because Trump, as the sitting President, was both the plaintiff and in direct control of all defendants, Trump v. IRS lacked adversity, meaning there was no Article III case or controversy, and no subject matter jurisdiction. Trump all but conceded the lack of adversity earlier this year, he described the case as requiring him to “work out a settlement with myself…”

Yep. That’s gonna leave… a mark.

Now you know. Good call, Rigby.

Onward.

As We Approach Middle Age — Most Of Us Are About As Healthy As We Truly WANT To Be — If We Are Disciplined Enough… To ACT.

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There will certainly be genetic factors, or random accidents in the street — over which we exert essentially no influence.

But I certainly agree — that well-more than half of how one’s later life turns out. . . turns on which choices we make now — and keep making, well into our 80s. Here’s The UK Guardian’s study this morning, to back that notion up:

…Individuals bear at least 80% of the responsibility for their ill health in old age, according to a report aimed at challenging the belief that physical decline is… inevitable….

The report, launched at the Smart Ageing Summit in Oxford last week, argues that individuals have far greater control over their longevity than is commonly understood. The authors call on the government to take legislative action on alcohol comparable to restrictions on smoking.

Living Longer, Better — the Oxford Longevity Project’s first Age-less report — was co-authored by an interdisciplinary panel of UK-based experts in medicine, physiology, ageing and education policy. It was sponsored by Oxford Healthspan….

[From the report itself, then:] As they approach the age of 70, many people find themselves thinking about their own hopes for longevity: how they might best prepare to live in reasonably good health until they reach 90, or even for several years beyond that milestone…. This Report is for them – and also for their advisers, GPs, and other health-care professionals, and their advisers and trainers, for those who offer guidance to the public on best practice in the quest for enduring good health, for the media, and for the government…. [A]bove all, we hope it might change behaviour, and improve the lives of older people in the U.K., and indeed worldwide….

Sure — the correlation won’t be 1-to-1, in any individual case. But the broader object lesson is sound. Onward, smiling.

नमस्ते

The Able USDC Judge Tigar Re-Affirms — In East Bay V — That More Of Trump’s 2025 Black Sharpie Orders… Are “Arbitrary And Capricious”

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This was actually published about two week ago, but I’ve been off dousing other bonfires… smile. It is welcome vindication of what regular readers here well know: Tangerine 2.0 has no clue about the limits to his powers, via the US Constitution. Most of all, Congress must act — to do the things he pretends to do, by Black Sharpie scribbles — as to immigration policies. [One of dozens of my prior backgrounders, from across the last seven years, here.]

[And significantly, this Northen California class litigation now has the implied backing (of the last term rulings at the Supremes)… on why faith based doctors’ groups in Texas do not have standing to impose nationwide bans on the abortion pill by mail-order. Conversley, the organizations resisting lawless attempts to curtail lawful immigration pathways… do have standing to challenge the Black Sharpie scribbles.]

Do go read it all — but here’s a bit of it — it is clearly correctly decided:

…Plaintiffs are legal services organizations challenging a rule imposing a rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility for individuals who do not utilize certain “lawful pathways.” Two events relevant to this case occurred while it was on appeal to the Ninth Circuit. First, the Supreme Court decided Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, 602 U.S. 367 (2024), which addressed organizational standing. Second, the Trump Administration took a series of executive actions foreclosing certain “lawful pathways” and otherwise restricting asylum. The Ninth Circuit remanded the case for this Court to reconsider its prior order granting summary judgment to Plaintiffs, in light of both intervening changes. Before the Court is the parties’ supplemental briefing addressing these issues.

The Court’s prior summary judgment order is hereby modified to reflect (1) that Alliance does not undermine Plaintiffs’ Article III standing and (2) that the termination of lawful pathways underscores the rule’s unlawfulness, as set forth below. The Court therefore reaffirms its prior order….

Now you know — onward, grinning.

नमस्ते